UPDATE: With WRKO being the flagship station for the Red Sox, we are at the mercy of the baseball schedule. The Red Sox were rained out on Saturday and they now have a day-night double header on Sunday which means Pundit Review Radio is bumped for this week. Too bad, we had a great show lined up for you.
I can hardly wait for Sunday night’s edition of Pundit Review Radio.
7pm: David Freddoso of National Review , author of the most indespensible book of the 2008 election, The Case Against Barack Obama
8pm: James Pethokoukis of U.S. News & World Report. James has been all over this Wall Street meltdown. If you are not reading his blog, you are really missing out on some great commentary and insight. He’s been on the show several times now and is an excellent guest.
9pm: Bruce McQuain returns with another edition of Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the men and women fighting for us around the world.
9:30: Thomas S. Price, Jr., SVP of Corporate Development at Chesapeake Energy, America’s largest producer of natural gas. Chesapeake, like T. Boone Pickens, is working to get America to transition from gasoline to natural gas for automobiles. Why? It’s abundent here in America, it’s much cheaper than oil and it is better for the environment. Perhaps you have seen Chesapeake’s TV ads featuring their CEO Aubrey McLendon?
Full disclosure: I have a small amount of CHK shares in an IRA.
I thought McCain won by a few points over Obama. I found the debate very frustrating because Obama gave McCain multiple opportunities on multiple topics to bring the hammer down. The debate was full of missed opportunities for McCain. He won, but he could have won decisively.
The format: I thought the format was excellent. Two minutes for each candidate to answer the question, then an open five minute period for direct exchange between the candidates. One of the worst aspects of our politics is this insistence that everything be spoken in soundbites. To see these guys given room to talk, for relatively long stretches, was helpful to the voters I think. I certainly appreciate hearing these longer exchanges. That said, both candidates, McCain more than Obama, frequently reverted to the most relevant portion of their standard stump speech when answering the questions. It is striking how many times a direct answer to the question was not given. It started with the very first question, about their stance on the current economic rescue package. Here was Lehrer’s first question,
Gentlemen, at this very moment tonight, where do you stand on the financial recovery plan?
After both candidates responded, Lehrer tried again, which I found amusing,
LEHRER: All right, let’s go back to my question. How do you all stand on the recovery plan?
One thing that goes unappreciated is the power that Jim Lehrer has. He and only he developed these questions. With only three presidential debates, and so much riding on them, that is an enormous amount of power. Jim Lehrer used his power well, asking good questions and working in his understated way to try and get the candidates to engage each other directly.
What I found most frustrating was that McCain let Obama off the hook repeatedly. Ed Morrisey at Hot Air notes about one exchange at the very beginning of the debate,
He never challenged Obama’s assumptions that the current credit crisis came from too little regulation. I kept expecting McCain to talk about the disaster of the Community Reinvestment Act, and the mandates from Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac encourage bad lending by buying up bad paper.
Another frustrating exchange was when Obama tried to claim that he had seen this credit crisis coming.
The question, I think, that we have to ask ourselves is, how did we get into this situation in the first place?
Two years ago, I warned that, because of the subprime lending mess, because of the lax regulation, that we were potentially going to have a problem and tried to stop some of the abuses in mortgages that were taking place at the time.
Really? He must have whispered it to someone. Given McCain’s long record of calling for increasing regulation of Wall Street dating back to 2002, he should have been able to hammer Obama on this, but he didn’t. Given the Democrats resistance to regulating Fannie and Freddie when it could have made a difference, he could have hammered Obama, but he didn’t. Given it was the Clinton administration that forced Fannie and Freddie to lower lending standards, he could have hammered Obama, but he didn’t.
During this exchange, Obama also had the most unintentionally funny line of the evening when he said this,
Last year, I wrote to the secretary of the Treasury to make sure that he understood the magnitude of this problem and to call on him to bring all the stakeholders together to try to deal with it.
No doubt, Hank Paulson found Obama’s letter incredibly educational. I’m sure he learned a whole lot that he didn’t already know about the “magnitude of this problem”.
McCain’s answers were ok on the economic crisis; I just was frustrated by how many opportunities he left on the table.
Speaking of missed opportunities, the one that had me screaming at the TV was Obama’s repeated insistence that Al Qaida is stronger than it has been at any time since 2001. While the Taliban and Al Qaida are resurgent in Afghanistan, the evidence shows they have been decimated globally,
CIA Director Michael Hayden said last week that al-Qaida is losing its war on the West… “Near strategic defeat of al-Qaida in Iraq. Near strategic defeat for al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia. Significant setbacks for al-Qaida globally — and here I’m going to use the word ‘ideologically’ — as a lot of the Islamic world pushes back on their form of Islam.”
Not once did McCain make this point or the point that Obama and the Democrats strategy of retreating in the face of Al Qaida in Iraq would have been a tragic loss for the US and major victory for AL Qaida. Instead, we followed McCain’s strategy, stood and fought, and defeated them dramatically.
McCain’s strongest part of the evening was when he schooled young Barack on the difference between negotiation with rogue regimes and presidential level negotiation. McCain was also quite strong on Russia.
Overall, a good night for both candidates with McCain coming out on top.
When it comes to Sarah Palin, the media has been like a pack of rabid dogs going after every possible aspect of her life. Even some aspects of her life that are not at all possible.
They say, as journalists, they have an obligation to dig into her background and help the public get a better understanding of who she is. Fair enough, if they had the same enthusiasm for vetting Barack Obama. After all, it is he who is running for president. The fact is, the MSM largely treats Obama as if he is Teddy Kennedy, a guy who has been around forever and of whom there is nothing left to learn. The MSM has more vigorously vetted Palin in six weeks than they have Barack Obama in 18 months.
That is not to say that there haven’t been negative articles written about Obama. Liberals cite these of proof of the balanced media. That is simply absurd. What it proves is that there are stories out there that raise serious questions about the character and judgment of Barack Obama. What is missing is the feeding frenzy that brings these issues to the forefront of public consciousness.
Like what you say? For starters, how about the first race Barack ever ran, against a popular incumbent in his own party. When Sarah Palin did this, she took them on directly and beat them at the ballot box. What did Barack Obama do? He and his lawyer friends challenged her ballot signatures and had her name removed from the ballot. A new kind of politics? More like Chicago politics. Same goes for every progressive reformer who tried to rise up within Chicago and IL politics. Certainly, Barack Obama would be on their side, working to bring about “change”. Wrong again. Every time, Barack Obama sided with the entrenched, corrupt political machine, standing as a roadblock to the reform he claims to be all about. Then there is his work as a community organizer, specifically his interest in “affordable housing” for low income people. Turns out Barack Obama was working at the behest of real estate developers and against the interests of low income people with housing needs. Our own Boston Globe published a devastating portrait of young Barack the housing advocate? Or the story about Michelle Obama’s 300% raise after Barack became a US senator and then earmarked a million dollar thank you to her employer. How about the story out of Chicago this week that another Obama earmark is being investigated by the IL attorney general?
Have you ever heard of any of these events? Many of you are probably scratching your heads.
The fact is, there is much about Barack Obama we don’t know. Much of what we do know about his background doesn’t make any sense. For example, how in the world Rev. Wright could be a “spiritual mentor” for 20 years and then Obama suddenly claims he didn’t realize all that “God damn America” talk was going on inside his church?
Obama’s connection to Bill Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist from the Weather Underground, is the latest topic the MSM is avoiding like the plague. This is THE ISSUE that you simply cannot know about.
National Review’s David Freddoso has done some great work in his book The Case Against Barack Obama. When I interviewed him, he made the point that so much has been written that raises serious questions about Barack Obama, the problem is, it has been confined to the Chicago papers.
National Review’s Stanley Kurtz has been digging and reporting, filing freedom of information acts to get at the true nature of the relationship between the unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers and the would-be president. What he has found so far makes Barack Obama look like a liar, someone who is afraid of the truth getting out. He can’t let you know the true nature of his relationship with the unrepentant terrorist, and who can blame him. Would you want the average American voter to know you worked closely with a guy who is proud of bombing the Pentagon?
No wonder Obama says Ayers is just some guy from his neighborhood.
Peter Kirsanow at The Corner,
Stanley Kurtz’s piece today describing what appears to be an attempt to cover-up the extent of Sen. Obama’s ties to William Ayers should have journalists salivating. This is a big story that, so far, the press seems determined to avoid.
A rookie reporter could look at what Stanley’s adduced and clearly see that Sen. Obama has engaged in serious misdirection regarding his relationship with Ayers. The ties between the two are far more lengthy and extensive than Obama admits.
It appears that Ayers took a keen interest in Obama at a time when Obama was nothing more than, as Stanley puts it, “a young and inexperienced lawyer.” Why? There are tens of thousands of young and inexperienced lawyers in Chicago. What did Ayers see in (or hear from) Obama that caused the former to take such an interest in him?
What else don’t you know about Barack Obama?
Bill Ayers
Here is what I wrote the morning McCain announced Sarah Palin,
I saw her about a month ago on Larry Kudlow’s TV show and I thought she did ok, not great, just ok. If that was my impression watching her in friendly territory, how will she do when really pressed?…
…The most overlooked question in all of this is “does the VP nominee have the media relations skills to be a forceful advocate?†Pawlenty has demonstrated that he does. I don’t think you can underestimate how important this single point is, the media relations skills. Ultimately, I believe they are even more important than the conservative positions or resume…
I’m flummoxed by the choice honestly. Sure, its Mavericky alright. Yes, it shows McCain is an independent thinker. However, I wonder if he’s beeing too cute and losing sight of the basic ingredients that make a good running mate. I hope I am proven wrong.
Let’s just say that I haven’t been proven wrong.
I have sharper conversations with my friends, and none of them are in line to be a heartbeat away from leading the free world. I want to believe. But I have seen nothing to date to make me believe. If Barack Obama has proven anything, it’s that good speeches don’t count for anything. When she has done these interviews, even the hard hitting Sean Hannity interview, she seems to have only a superficial understanding of the issues.
My biggest fear, which I mentioned in a different post, still rings true,
I used a baseball analogy last weekend on the radio to describe Palin. She reminds me of a highly talented young pitcher, like Craig Hanson or Clay Buchholz, who is brought up to the big leagues too soon, has a terrible experience and regresses, perhaps never again being able to live up to the initial promise. Palin has potential to be a long term asset for Republicans. However, if she was brought up too soon, and is hammered or exposed as not ready, her brand will be damaged and her long term effectiveness muted. That would be a shame.
UPDATE: Conservative writer Kathleen Parker, writing at National Review,
Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.
No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.
It has been a privilege to get to know the Sharratt family. They have been treated so unfairly, by people who should know better. Who could blame them for wanting to hold John Murtha accountable? Not me.
Exonerated Marine to sue Rep. Murtha
One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad.
Former Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 24, of Canonsburg, will file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was widely quoted two years ago saying that eight Marines carried out a cold-blooded killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town on Nov. 19, 2005.
Charges were later dropped against all but one of the Marines, with a military prosecutor calling allegations against Mr. Sharratt “incredible.”
Noah Geary, a Washington County lawyer representing Mr. Sharratt, said his client will file suit today in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh accusing Mr. Murtha of violating his constitutional rights as well as slander for statements about the Haditha incident. A 1:30 p.m. news conference has been planned to announce the suit.
“He just held innumerable press conferences, just repeatedly kept saying this was cold-blooded murder,” Mr. Geary said of the congressman.
Pundit Review Radio was the first show to interview exonerated Haditha Marine Justin Sharratt,
We also spoke to Justin’s father Darryl on several occassions, inlcuding after he spoke to Congressman Murtha. You see, Congressman Murtha, who convicted these Marines in the press, is the Sharratt’s congressmen. Can you imagine. Even worse, it took the Sharratt family more than fifty phone calls before Murtha gave them the time of day.
In a second interview, we talked to Darryl about the stress this incident has put on his family,
All of our Haditha coverage can be found here.
Is Joe Biden trying to find a way off the Obama ticket? Preposterous you say? How else do you explain Biden’s actions this week? Is he really that afraid of debating Sarah Palin.:)?
A nice overview from Newsweek,
Biden Turns on the Gaffe Machine
In the past few days–just as Palinsanity has begun to die down–Biden has made a series of strange public statements that suggest he’s either at odds with Obama on key policy issues or that he isn’t aware of what Obama believes. Individually, they’ve served to cloud Obama’s message on matters of substance; taking together, they suggest that someone in Chicago should give the guy a good talking to. If he or she can get a word in edgewise, that is.
He don’t know much about history
He (Biden) was speaking about the role of the White House in a financial crisis.
“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed,” Biden told Couric. “He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.'”
There is nothing wrong with Biden’s statement, except the fact that Herbert Hoover was president in 1929 and TV was not yet invented. Other than that…
He knows where Osama bin Laden is because his helicopter was forced down in Afghanistan
“If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me,” Biden said. “Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are.”
As Bruce noted at QandO, the reason Biden’s helicopter “forced down” wasn’t bullets or RPG’s, but snow. This lead Mark Steyn to quip,
In fairness, in the weeks after 9/11, many experts cowered in terror before the soi-disant “brutal Afghan winter”. But I believe Senator Biden is the first to assert it’s under the direct control of Osama bin Laden.
Biden says NO to clean coal, Barack Obama’s campaign position says YES
“No coal plants here in America,” he said. “Build them, if they’re going to build them, over there. Make them clean. We’re not supporting clean coal,” he said of himself and Obama.
The Obama web site says the following about clean coal,
Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology: Obama’s Department of Energy will enter into public private partnerships to develop five “first-of-a-kind†commercial scale coal-fired plants with clean carbon capture and sequestration technology.
Biden says Obama campaign ad about McCain’s use of a computer was “terrible”
Asked by CBS’s Katie Couric about an ad Obama released earlier this month mocking John McCain for not being able to use a computer, Biden criticized the commercial and suggested it had been aired without his knowledge.
“I thought that was terrible by the way,” Biden said of the computer ad in an interview broadcast tonight on the CBS Evening News
Asked why it was aired, Biden said: “I didn’t know we did it and if I had anything to do with it, we would have never done it.”
Biden was against the AIG bailout before he was for it
From ABC News’ Jake Tapper,
Lauer was talking about how Obama hit Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., for flip-flopping on the AIG bailout — saying he opposed it one day then announced he supported it the next day.
But, as Lauer pointed out, scarcely three minutes after McCain said he opposed the AIG bailout last week, “in an interview with Meredith Vieira, Joe Biden, your running mate was asked the exact same question: ‘should the federal government bail out AIG?’ And he said, ‘No, the federal government should not bail out AIG.'” (As we noted at the time.) “And I think that, in that situation,” Obama said, “I think Joe should have waited, as well.”
If the answer is no, Biden does not want off the ticket, then what are you left with? A fast talking slow-witted buffoon who has little regard or understanding of his running mates policies, who has quickly become the furthest thing from an asset to the campaign one can think of….unless you are referring to the McCain campaign that is.
New York Post, Page Six
“WALL Street’s financial crisis has trickled down to Manhattan’s mammary meccas. A source tells us jiggle joints all over the city are seeing a drop in business, with fewer customers, less bar traffic and a drop in lap dances. “The strippers at Penthouse Executive Club are all moaning and groaning,” one insider tells us. “They say they aren’t making anything at all since the market crashed.”
Why not? Makes as much sense as some of the things I’ve heard this week.